Real writing has capitals, commas and full stops. This test mixes them in, so your score reflects the typing you actually do.
Plain word tests leave out the Shift key and the punctuation keys, which are some of the slowest keys for most typists. Here sentences start with a capital letter and end with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark, with commas, colons, quotes and brackets in between.
Expect a lower speed than on plain words. The results page shows which keys cost you the most, Shift and punctuation included, and builds a drill from them. You can also add punctuation to any test with the punctuation button above the words.
Most punctuation sits under the right little finger: the comma and full stop on the bottom row, and the semicolon, colon and quote keys beside the home row. Keep that finger close to its home key rather than lifting the whole hand. Press Shift with the hand that is not typing the character, and let go of it as soon as the character is typed; a Shift held a moment too long gives a capital where none belongs.
Practise for a few minutes a day with punctuation on, then switch back to plain words. Most people find their plain speed goes up too, because the hand that reaches for Shift and punctuation gets steadier.
The opposite hand to the letter: right Shift for letters typed with the left hand, left Shift for the right hand.
No. The leaderboards compare plain word tests, so everyone types the same kind of text.